Workshop Outline
Background
Governance refers to the process of guiding or coordinating separate, multiple elements of an
organization or social system, such as people, knowledge, resources, or power, towards a common goal.
Electronic governance (or e-governance) denotes how these processes of social and organizational
coordination may be made possible or even enhanced, through the use of technology, particularly the
Internet.
Within this e-governance context, e-government is focused on the application of technology to existing
state processes to improve service delivery and policy-making performance and is distinguishable from egovernance in that the latter comprises a more fundamental sharing and reorganizing of power across all
sectors (and not just in the public sector). Just as the trend to ‘small g’ governance1 has been no
guarantee that specific ‘large G’ Government state organizations will follow suit, the application of
technology to government does not automatically create a shift towards e-governance. Since the natures
of both governance and government are constantly changing, and are evolving at different rates, at times
they may converge and at other times diverge. One feature of this workshop will be to assess their current
‘fit’ with each other.
While the primary focus of this workshop is the public sector, its interdependencies among public
organizations, and with private and civic organizations and the increasing distribution of governance that
lie at the heart of the most important public sector challenges, make an examination of the impact of
technology on government incomplete without looking both internally (considering roles and relations
among politicians, public servants and the public) and externally (across all stakeholders). While some
suggest good e-governance may be just good governance with an ‘e’ attached, e-government, on the other
hand, presents many new challenges and demands on existing structures, cultures, approaches, policies,
and programs.
1
Gilles Paquet, The Charter as governance story, A note prepared for Canadian Diversity in the Summer of 2007
E-Governance in Canada
This workshop will adopt the definition of e-government used by many current governments, the OECD
and others namely:
E-government refers to the continuous innovation in the delivery of services, citizen
participation, and governance through the transformation of external and internal public
service relationships by the use of information technologies, especially the Internet.
In Session 1 we begin with an introduction and summarize the broad parameters of changing governance
that provide a context against which evolving e-governments are adapting. We also take an overview of
how different countries are pursuing the e-government agenda. In Sessions 2-4 we will examine the four
main e-government dimensions in a Canadian context, including:
i) improved service delivery and how the desire for more citizen centric service has consequences for
more decentralized government and greater integration of departmental and inter-governmental
actions and policies in the creation of service portals and interoperable technology platforms;
ii) online security, privacy, and public safety and the sometimes conflicting policies necessary to
deliver online services and to combat crime and terrorism while providing new digital platforms and
tools within and across government to collaborate;
iii) increasing transparency to satisfy public pressure for greater accountability and trust in government
as reflected in increased citizen participation and engagement in government in order to sustain and
enhance the sense of public sector legitimacy and democracy.
Session 5 will provide an overview of the Canadian experience with e-government at federal, provincial
and municipal levels and compares their emphases and initial results. Finally, Session 6 looks at the
implications of implementing e-government in environments which of necessity involve various forms
and degrees of collaboration and shared accountability. Not only is the issue of horizontal government
pushed more firmly to the forefront of the public sector agenda, but also the issue of partnerships with
private and not-for-profit organizations which are routinely utilized to both build and build confidence in
e-government initiatives. The present lack of established good practice in this area seems to create an
opportunity for reform of the public sector not evident elsewhere.
Workshop Objectives
The main objectives of this workshop are:
• To gain a better appreciation of importance of digital technologies in reshaping and increasing the
legitimacy of modern public sector governance
• To better understand the nature of the public choices being made to use technology to either
strengthen existing governance practices or transform those practices in light of changes in citizen
expectations and changes in the demands of public entities due to globalization, the knowledge
economy and increasingly interdependent and distributed governance.
• To understand better the strategic and organizational choices confronting governments in order to
improve service and program delivery as well as policy formulation; align themselves with public
pressures for more effective, horizontal, accountable and citizen-centred government; and to
respond to growing demands for increasing transparency, engagement and increased democratic
participation in government.
• To develop a working knowledge of how governments in Canada and elsewhere are responding
to the e-government challenge both in terms of strategies and results.
This workshop comprises overlapping conceptual and applied components. First, we will examine the
topic of e-governance and the major themes of e-government – service, security, transparency and trust -situating them within Canadian and international contexts. Then we will explore the strategies currently
being deployed by federal, provincial and local governments in Canada to implement e-government.
Christopher Wilson & Associates
2
E-Governance in Canada
Lastly we will examine the issue of collaboration and shared accountability, as they may be applied to egovernment implementations that require horizontal government, multi-level government or multisectoral collaboration and P3s.
Approach
This workshop is instructor led and is presented through a series of six workshop presentations, lectures,
and discussions over three days. The primary reading materials will be provided at the beginning of the
workshop and will be organized according to each session.
Schedule
Session 1:
Introduction to e-Governance
Readings: The E-Government Imperative (OECD) - www.oecd.org/dataoecd/60/60/2502539.pdf
Other Resources:
− E-Government Global Rankings, Accenture (www.accenture.com)
− Global e-Government Rankings, Brown University (http://www.insidepolitics.org/egovt07int.pdf)
Session 2:
Service & Service Transformation
Readings: Text (Chapter 1)
General Resources:
− CIO Magazine (www.cio.com)
− Canadian Institute of Citizen Centric Governance (www. iccs-isac.org)
Session 3:
Online Security, Privacy and Public Safety
Readings: Text (Chapter 2)
For Discussion:
− Identity, Privacy, Security – Can Technology Really Reconcile Them? An address by B.C.’s Privacy
Commissioner (Feb. 2004)
(http://www.oipc.bc.ca/publications/speeches_presentations/CPIABspeech021204.pdf)
Session 4:
Transparency, Trust, Engagement & e-Democracy
Readings: Text (Chapters 3 & 4)
Additional Reading:
- Lee, M. (2004) E-Reporting: Strengthening Democratic Accountability. Washington D.C.: IBM Center
for the Business of Government. (http://www.businessofgovernment.org/pdfs/Lee_Report.pdf)
General resources:
− Insights on E-Democracy in Canada (www.crossingboundaries.ca)
− Government of Canada resource (www.consultingcanadians.gc.ca)
− Internet Usage & Politics Online in the U.S.(www.pewinternet.org)
Session 5: The Canadian Experience with E-Government
An overview of the federal, provincial and municipal implementations of e-government
Readings: Text (Chapters 5-7)
Christopher Wilson & Associates
3
E-Governance in Canada
General Resources:
Service Canada - www.servicecanada.ca
Service Ontario http://www.gov.on.ca/ont/portal/!ut/p/.cmd/cs/.ce/7_0_A/.s/7_0_252/_s.7_0_A/7_0_252/_l/en?docid=EC
001009
County of Oxford Online - http://www.cooloxford.ca/
Session 6: P3s and Shared Accountability
Readings: Text (Chapter 8)
IPAC New Directions 17 (2005) / Dutil, Langford & Roy,
(http://www.ipac.ca/pubs/new_directions/index.html)
Lenihan & Fraser, Accountability for Learning, CBNC, 2004
Assignment
During the workshop each participant should consider how e-government is or has been implemented in
his/her organization and be prepared to discuss in the final session how those e-government strategies are
focused either on: a) reinforcement of traditional public sector practice, OR b) public sector
transformation. For instance, e-government has been described as a way for governments to exert more
control and require more centralization OR as a way for governments to increase their openness and
define new, more participative and collaborative ways of doing business.
Text
The suggested text for this workshop is E-Government in Canada: Transformation for the Digital Age,
Roy, J. (2006) and is available through Chapters or the University of Ottawa Bookstore. Additional
materials and online resources will be made available on doc-depot, along with any class slides.
Other Resources and Information
(a) Books:
Gilles Paquet, The New Governance: A Baroque Approach, University of Ottawa Press, Ottawa, ON,
2005.
Howard Rheingold, Smart Mobs: The Next Social Revolution, Perseus Publishing, Cambridge, MA, 2002.
Don Tapscott and David Tricoll, The Naked Corporation: How the Age of Transparency Will
Revolutionize Business, Viking Canada, Toronto, ON 2003.
(b) Online journals:
- Optimum Journal of Public Sector Management (www.optimumonline.ca)
- CIO Government’s Review and CIO Canada (www.itworld.ca)
- International Journal of E-Government Research (e-journal format available by university library
system)
- Electronic Journal of E-Government (www.ejeg.com)
(c) A few international online resources that may be helpful in the review:
- Accenture Consulting (www.accenture.com)
- Australian Government Online (www.govonline.gov.au)
Christopher Wilson & Associates
4
E-Governance in Canada
- BC Government Online (www.bconline.gov.bc.ca)
- Center for Digital Government (www.centerdigitalgov.com)
- Center for Technology in Government (www.ctg.albany.edu)
- CIO Government’s Review (www.itworld.ca)
- CIO Magazine (www.cio.com)
- CivicInfoBC (www.civicinfo.bc.ca)
- Crossing the Boundaries (www.crossingboundaries.ca)
- Electronic Frontier Foundation (www.eff.org)
- Government of Canada (www.canada.gc.ca)
- Government Technology (www.govtech.net)
- IBM Center for Business of Government (www.businessofgovernment.org)
- Institute for Citizen-Centric Governance (iccs-isac.org)
- Journal of E-Government Research (www.idea-group.com)
- Local E-Government Resources (www.localegov.gov.uk)
- OECD E-Government Research (www.oecd.org)
- Optimum Online (www.optimumonline.ca)
- Partnerships BC (http://www.partnershipsbc.ca)
- State of Victoria E-Government Resources (http://egov.uvic.gov.au)
- Transparency International (www.transparency.org)
- U.K. Office of the E-Envoy (www.e-envoy.gov.uk)
- U.S. CIO Council (http://cio.gov)
- U.S. Office of E-Government (www.whitehouse.gov/omb/egov)
- Washington State Online (www.access.wa.gov)
Important Administrative Information
Website:
http://www.christopherwilson.ca
Readings:
A text is suggested and a package of suggested readings will be provided online
at the beginning of the workshop
Mailbox:
PO Box 62024, Ottawa, ON K1C 7H8
e-mail:
info@christopherwilson.ca
Voice Box:
613-569-0100
Christopher Wilson & Associates
5